What sort of game would these variants, used together, make for? [Archive] - Wizards Community

What sort of game would these variants, used together, make for? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Jodjod
04-06-06, 03:10 PM I've been flicking through the UA section of the Hypertext SRD and a few of the variants have caught my eye: namely, Defense Bonus, Wound/Vitality points & Weapon Group Proficency. The first two in particular seem like a bit of a odd mix together, since it's making it harder to hit the PCs, but more deadly when they do land a blow.

What sort of change in power level and theme would you expect for these variants combined together?
Darth Sephiroth
04-06-06, 03:15 PM That makes it a lot more like the Star Wars RPG. The only thing you need to be careful with if you use VP/WP is that it is very hard to balance out Undead and Constructs or pretty much anything without a Con score
Jodjod
04-06-06, 03:30 PM But assuming that you don't use non-Con monsters very often, everything is fine and dandy? I'm not too familiar with the SWRPG, y'see.
Darth Sephiroth
04-06-06, 03:38 PM The Star Wars RPG uses the Defense and Vitality/Wounds (I think that was what they were originally designed for) and they work great, but are far to based on having a CON score to be much help because you suddenly lose your wounds and are back to the beginning. My suggestion is to grant 2xHD for the 1st level and you have it basically worked out.
kelvinaw273
04-08-06, 07:17 AM No doubt an interesting game. My only complaint about Defence Bonus is that it really penalises Monks and Swashbucklers who don't use armour anyway by paring away some of their advantages over other classes. Who would wear armour when you can get the same bonus AND a higher touch AC without the added weight? It only really works if the characters have to make a hard choice about a really good bit of protective equipment.
One answer might be to apply the full defence bonus only to one attacker and halving it to the rest.
syntaxerror37
04-11-06, 11:39 PM I don’t have UA in front of me right now, but I believe in the same section the defense bonus is mentioned in, they have armor as DR. That would work well in conjunction with the defense bonus and give you a reason to wear full plate instead of a t-shirt.
caeruleus
04-12-06, 02:18 AM Sounds to me like it could make for a gritty sword-and-sorcery game (which is awsome), but only if you try to make it a low-magic.

If that's the feel you're looking for, I recommend Iron Heroes from Malhavoc Press. It's got a defense bonus, armor gives damage reduction (with a better system than the one in UA), and uses reserve points rather than vitality and wound points. It can give good suggestions for a D&D game, if you don't want to change too much of your game.
cutsleeve
04-12-06, 03:37 AM Sounds like a low armor setting with alot of combat experts and alot of sword play. So either flying kung fu, heavy sword and sorcery, Feudal Japanese, Pirates, or soemthing along those lines.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jodjod 04-06-06, 03:10 PM	I've been flicking through the UA section of the Hypertext SRD and a few of the variants have caught my eye: namely, Defense Bonus, Wound/Vitality points & Weapon Group Proficency. The first two in particular seem like a bit of a odd mix together, since it's making it harder to hit the PCs, but more deadly when they do land a blow. What sort of change in power level and theme would you expect for these variants combined together?
Darth Sephiroth 04-06-06, 03:15 PM	That makes it a lot more like the Star Wars RPG. The only thing you need to be careful with if you use VP/WP is that it is very hard to balance out Undead and Constructs or pretty much anything without a Con score
Jodjod 04-06-06, 03:30 PM	But assuming that you don't use non-Con monsters very often, everything is fine and dandy? I'm not too familiar with the SWRPG, y'see.
Darth Sephiroth 04-06-06, 03:38 PM	The Star Wars RPG uses the Defense and Vitality/Wounds (I think that was what they were originally designed for) and they work great, but are far to based on having a CON score to be much help because you suddenly lose your wounds and are back to the beginning. My suggestion is to grant 2xHD for the 1st level and you have it basically worked out.
kelvinaw273 04-08-06, 07:17 AM	No doubt an interesting game. My only complaint about Defence Bonus is that it really penalises Monks and Swashbucklers who don't use armour anyway by paring away some of their advantages over other classes. Who would wear armour when you can get the same bonus AND a higher touch AC without the added weight? It only really works if the characters have to make a hard choice about a really good bit of protective equipment. One answer might be to apply the full defence bonus only to one attacker and halving it to the rest.
syntaxerror37 04-11-06, 11:39 PM	I don’t have UA in front of me right now, but I believe in the same section the defense bonus is mentioned in, they have armor as DR. That would work well in conjunction with the defense bonus and give you a reason to wear full plate instead of a t-shirt.
caeruleus 04-12-06, 02:18 AM	Sounds to me like it could make for a gritty sword-and-sorcery game (which is awsome), but only if you try to make it a low-magic. If that's the feel you're looking for, I recommend Iron Heroes from Malhavoc Press. It's got a defense bonus, armor gives damage reduction (with a better system than the one in UA), and uses reserve points rather than vitality and wound points. It can give good suggestions for a D&D game, if you don't want to change too much of your game.
cutsleeve 04-12-06, 03:37 AM	Sounds like a low armor setting with alot of combat experts and alot of sword play. So either flying kung fu, heavy sword and sorcery, Feudal Japanese, Pirates, or soemthing along those lines.